Healthy Mozzarella Chicken Salad

So, I made this salad of deliciousness for lunch! I was feeling guilty that I had bought a big bag of spinach thinking I was going to have a salad everyday for lunch... pssh yeah. We'll I made good use of it today and it was much bueno!

Ingredients:
1-2 tsp EVOO
1 minced garlic clove
Pinch of salt
1 tsp sriracha
3-5 oz of chicken tenders
Sprinkle of mozzarella cheese
Sprinkle of Italian seasonings and pepper
Large handful of spinach

Warm up the oil and them add the chicken, salt and pepper. Let cook for a bit and then add the fresh garlic, sriracha sauce, and seasonings. Cook until chicken is just about done and then sprinkle some mozzarella cheese and let it melt just enough to stick to the pan a little bit. Then put on top spinach and drizzle the rest of the oil as dressing.

It was seriously amazing.

Protein Pancake Win

Well, I did it! They don't look as appealing, but they sure tasted good. That's what counts, right?? I used to same batter recipe as the ones I made the other day, and had left it in the refrigerator, which made it thicker than normal pancake batter. So the recipe:

Pumpkin Protein Pancake

1 1/2 cups Oat Flour
2 tbsp Stevia
1 tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Allspice

1/4 Nutmeg

4 Egg Whites (I used 3 whole eggs)

1/2 cup raw Pumpkin

1 1/2 cups Almond Milk

As with regular pancake mix, mix the dry ingredients together, and the wet ingredients together, and then mix the two together. Cook on a griddle or skillet that is at medium heat until brown on both sides. Hopefully yours don't look as clumpy as mine did. 

I just want to say something about my choice of Greek yogurt. First of all, it's delicious. It is something that I will eat and enjoy. I really don't like the taste of plain yogurt with honey. I know that this yogurt has sugar (7g) but it also has protein (12g) that I feel helps with the sugar. I'd rather eat something that is semi healthy that I enjoy, than try and choke down something that I think is completely nasty, and hate my life. So, I buy plain Greek yogurt (Fage), and use that for smoothies, but nothing else. Mostly because I haven't found that I like it any other way. 

Happy pancakes everyone! 

Protein Pancake FAIL

Okay, so, a few weeks ago I stumbled across this amazing blog with the most inspirational writer, ever! She shares her love for pancakes, and shares recipes for healthy, protein packed pancakes. So, I figured that I would give it a try! So, while my husband was gone last Saturday, I busted out my cooking supplies, my protein powder, Greek yogurt, lots of eggs, and got cracking. Pun intended there.  I decided to try the pumpkin pancakes, because I love pumpkin everything, and I actually had that.

They smelled amazing! While the pancakes were frying in the skillet, I made the topping with Greek yogurt, cocoa powder, protein powder, and honey. When it was all done, I piled it all together with some bananas.



And then I took a bite.
Aaaaand I could not even swallow it! It was so nasty. I almost threw up. (TMI?) I am pretty sure it was the Greek yogurt topping. I had tasted a little piece of pancake before added the topping, and they were okay. By okay, I mean, not as great as real pancakes, but I could live with them. So.... My goal the next time  is to top it with some flavored Greek yogurt, and not try and make my own. Being healthy is so hard sometimes...

Does anyone have any experience with protein pancakes and them tasting good that they would like the share? Cause seriously, I am all ears... I don't want to buy the expensive protein pancake mix if I can avoid it. Being healthy is expensive, yes, but I also want/need it to be obtainable.

Making a Plan

I finally forced myself to create a meal plan for next week to follow! (Go me!) I am trying hard to keep things simple and cheap. I like to get my meat and fish from Costco because they have some good quality stuff in bulk, which should last about a month (sometimes 2, depending on how on top of things I am..) in our house. I like to get ground beef, chicken, tilapia, salmon, and one other choice like steak, meatballs, pork, roast, etc. Meat is expensive.. :( Then I plan on getting some of the staple foods I plan to eat a lot of throughout the week like spinach and lettuce for salads, cucumbers, some sort of fruit that looks good and is a decent price. Then I just get the rest at other places since I don't need bulk everything!

So, here is my plan for next week:

(Sorry for the tiny typing.. I couldn't figure out a way to get this table from Word, so I sent an e-mail to myself, opened up the document, took a picture and cropped it with my phone, then uploaded it onto my Google+ account so that I could access it as a picture from Picasa Web albums. There has to be an easier way? Haha.. I guess I need to work on my tech-savvy skills.)

I have no idea what the calorie intake is on any of this. I have tried to calculate calories in the past, and it stresses me out. The Insulite Labs program guide tells you not to worry so much about calories, so thank heavens for that! I figure if I am eating that many veggies every day I will be in good shape! :) I am not quite used to having 5 meals either, and so looking at it makes me feel like there is a lot of food there to eat, so I may have to make adjustments here and there. I plan on shopping and preparing on Saturday to that everything is ready to go for the week.

I kept breakfast super simple because I am not a morning person and I just don't take the time I need to to make something awesome. I do realize though that breakfast is when your body really needs the most energy to get through the day. I hope as I go I will be able to make some adjustments and find some recipes to make ahead of time to eat throughout the week so that breakfast is bigger and dinner is smaller (at least proportionally!). Notice I didn't leave out carbs altogether. I don't plan to! I believe the body needs those complex carbs at least once in awhile, so I am going to have them. I will also allow myself to have some Dove dark chocolate if I feel like I am going to die without something sweet.

I also added in my workout plan, which also may end up different, depending on how my body feels. I tried to do this same plan last week and spin class nearly wiped me out, so I ended up taking it a little easier through the weekend.

I'll try to take pictures and write out the recipes for easier reference next week, but that's it! We'll see how it goes! :)

Southwestern Eggs

This is a twist on your typical breakfast fried egg!

For this you need :

2 eggs, fried

1/4 c black beans (or beans of your choice)

Tomatoes

Salsa and Greek yogurt for toppings.

You could also add chopped cilantro too but I didn't have any.

It's got a decent amount of protein to keep you full for awhile! Super yummy and super cheap meal right here!